West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda tells Foreign Affairs
Correspondent Damien McElroy how he is leading his people's fight for
freedom from his base in Oxford.

Benny Wenda grew up in the remote highlands of West Papua, the former Dutch colony on the island of New Guinea which passed into Indonesian control in the 1960s.

After graduating from university, he became the secretary-general of the Koteka Tribal Assembly, using his position to protest against the repression of West Papuans’ rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In 2002, he was arrested and accused of inciting violence and arson, his home was ransacked without a warrant, and authorities refused to inform him of the charges brought against him.

While in detention, he was tortured by police and held in solitary confinement for several months. During his trial, he managed to escape and fled to the neighbouring region of Papua New Guinea.

He was granted political asylum with his family in the UK, where he launched the Free West Papua campaign.

In 2011, the Indonesian Government issued an Interpol red notice seeking Mr Wenda's arrest and extradition, but it was removed in 2012 after an investigation concluded that the allegations against Mr Wenda were "politically motivated and an abuse of the system" by the Indonesian Government.

Mr Wenda is now pushing for his Free West Papua campaign to go global as its 'the only way to educate the world" of the situation in his homeland.

He said: "The entire West Papua is a prison, we are enslaved by Indonesian military. At least 500,000 mean and women have already been killed. This is genocide."

"They look at us as a colony, so they can do whatever they like. That is why I'm telling the world in 20, 30 years time my people will have disappeared."